Timing Interlude
by jpstar57
Summary: This is set in the "Timing Is Everything" 'AU'. John's cousin Peter, a Senior Chief Petty Officer in the Navy has been accused of a crime. He and his entertainment attorney sister Gail have come to JAG for Mac and John's help.
1. Chapter 1

_**Timing Interlude**_

_**Author Name:**_ JPStar57

_**Rating:**_ T

_**Spoilers:**_ The first season

_**Disclaimer 1:**_ Except for John and his relatives, I do not own any characters from '_JAG_', _'NCIS__, __Magnum P.I._ and '_The West Wing_' or from author _Stephen Coonts._ Those characters are the intellectual property of the respective producers and author. Also the idea for John's house came from an actual Washington DC house renovation shown on the PBS program, _"This Old House"_.

_**Summary:**_ This is set in the "Timing Is Everything" 'AU'. John's cousin Peter, a Senior Chief Petty Officer in the Navy has been accused of a crime. He and his entertainment attorney sister Gail have come to JAG for John's help.

This story is dedicated to my cousin Gail who at my age passed away much too young. Peter's sister's character is based on her.

_**Chapter 1**_

Tuesday, September 2, 1997

0830 Local Time

JAG Headquarters,

1322 Paterson Avenue,

Washington Navy Yard, SE,

Washington, DC

Lt. Commander John Marshall was sitting at his usual spot at the conference table next Major Sarah Mackenzie. Even though they were colleagues in the same command, they were having a romantic relationship away from the office, just as they promised their commanding officer, the Navy's Judge Advocate General, Rear Admiral, Upper Half AJ Chegwidden they would when they had informed him of the relationship.

It was Sarah's first day back from her medical leave. Even though she was back, she had been placed on light duty because she was still instructed by her doctor to stay off her injured right leg. She still had to use the crutches that were now propped against the back of her chair. John had driven her into work that morning.

The reason she was on medical leave with an injured right leg was because two weeks ago she had been shot in that thigh while she was hiking in the Virginia woods with her colleague and brother in law Lt. Commander Harmon Rabb who was sitting in his usual place on her other side.

Originally they had been flying Harm's Stearman biplane. They had to hike because the plane developed a fuel malfunction. Unable to get back to the airport Harm did an emergency landing on a meadow. When they went looking for help or transportation back to the airport, they had encountered poachers just after they had murdered the local game warden. The poachers had started shooting at them as they ran away. Sarah and Harm had taken cover behind the warden's truck. As Harm tried to hot wire the truck to get away, Sarah had taken Harm's flare gun from his emergency kit and stood to try to return fire. She had been shot in her thigh as a result. They only managed to get away because of John's timely intervention. He had come looking for them after they ad been overdue to land at the Blacksburg airport. He had shot and killed one poacher and wounded another in the encounter.

Harm and Sarah were telling the other officers of the adventure. Lt. JG Bud Roberts spoke up saying, "It's a good thing that Commander Marshall showed up when he did."

"Yes Bud it was," Sarah acknowledged with a smile. She smiled as she looked at John who ducked his head in embarrassment. John was not comfortable taking praise for the things he had done. He just thought he did what he had to do. Sarah took hold of his hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. John looked at the love of his life with an affectionate smile.

Right at the moment Admiral Chegwidden walked into the conference room.

Harm called, "Attention on Deck." At that all the officers except for Sarah went to stand at attention.

AJ responded with the usual, "As you were. Major Mackenzie how's the leg?"

"It's fine sir. The doctor says the wound healed up nicely but I still have some pain if I put weight on it so I still have to use the crutches. Otherwise my duties will not be affected," Sarah responded.

"That's good to hear. Still I asked Admiral Morris to have the other judges cut you some slack if you're still using the crutches in court. " AJ said.

"Thank you very much sir," Sarah said with a shy smile. She didn't ask AJ to do that so she was touched by his thoughtfulness.

"Since you can't go out on investigations major, Lt. Manetti you will go with Lt. Commander Marshall when the need arises." AJ said turning to Lieutenant Traci Manetti. Traci was Asian, but she spoke with a Southern drawl. The dichotomy always charmed those that knew her.

"No problem sir," Traci acknowledged, smiling at John and Sarah.

"So let's get down to other business," AJ began as he started to assign cases.

As he went through them he called out the names of the defendants and what they were charged with. "This next case involves a Peter Tierney and..."

At the mention of the name John's head shot up. He politely interrupted AJ saying, "Excuse me sir. Is that Senior Chief Petty Officer Peter Tierney?"

AJ looked at the face page of the report again and said, "Why yes it is. Do you know him?"

"Yes sir I do. What is he charged with sir?" John asked.

AJ answered, "He and a Petty Office Jackson Limon have been charged with theft of prescription drugs and narcotics from the Portsmouth Naval Hospital drug storage with intent to sell and grand theft of a Humvee. There are also assault and attempted murder charges. Two Virginia State troopers are in the hospital because PO Limon, who was driving, crashed into their car at a road block on I-264. Senior Chief Tierney was charged as an accessory to the assault and attempted murder charges."

"May I please see the report sir?" John asked in a professional tone as he could.

AJ passed it down to him. As John read the charge sheet and the accompanying incident report his eyebrows went right up into his hairline. Sarah was reading over his shoulder and she had the same reaction.

AJ and the rest of the others waited while John read the report. He didn't make them wait long as he said, "Sir I will need to defend on this case."

AJ said, "I thought you might. Lt. Manetti you will assist the defense and Commander Mattoni you will prosecute. Take Lt. Roberts as your assistant. He needs some courtroom time." He slid the duplicate folder to Alan Mattoni.

Mattoni and Bud both said, "Aye, aye sir."

John asked another question, "Sir when this comes to court, I would like Major Mackenzie to also assist me."

"Why is that commander?" AJ asked.

"Because sir it's like a doctor being prohibited from treating family." John answered.

"Family commander, how is the Senior Chief related to you?" AJ asked.

"Sir Tierney is my mom's maiden name. Peter is my cousin," John explained.

AJ nodded his understanding saying to Sarah, "Will that be a problem major?"

"No sir I will be happy to assist in any way I can," Sarah said.

Mattoni spoke up saying, "That will make it four attorneys against two sir. It says here that a Gail Grayson was his attorney at his bail hearing."

John looked through the report and said something that only Sarah heard. Sarah smiled both in humor and in bewilderment. Shortly after that the next cases were assigned and AJ closed the meeting.

0940 Local Time

Sarah's Office

Sarah, Traci and John trooped into Sarah's office to strategize on the case. After the door was closed Sarah was the first to ask, "So who is Gail Grayson? And why doesn't she just defend the Senior Chief?"

"Gail is Peter's sister. Grayson is her married name. Peter is a year younger than me. He joined the Navy right out of high school. After boot camp he trained as a medical corpsman. He was in Beirut when the barracks blew up and he was in Panama when we went after Noriega. He was actually assigned to my SeAL Team when our regular corpsman became ill. We didn't tell anyone except our team leader, Lt. Comdr. Hutchinson, that we were related until after we did what we did."

Gail is Pete's sister who is my age. We graduated Fordham Law together. She married Jack Grayson after she met him at a mixer at Fordham. Jack went into Entertainment Law and she followed as his partner. They represent some of the biggest names in show business. You would be surprised what kind of deviant behavior their clients get themselves into."

Sarah said, "First it's your sister as President Bartlett's Press Secretary then it's your cousin as a show biz attorney."

"What can I say?" was all John said in response shrugging and waving his hands in front of him.

He continued, "I tell you if it weren't for her, I would have never passed law school. She was my rock. She saw me through the breakup with my girlfriend at the time. (Sarah and Traci knew the story. John had confided in Traci and John's sister Ann Marie had confided the story to Sarah.) She kept me on the straight and narrow. We made a great debating team. We always won the Moot Court competitions."

Sarah and Traci smiled at his remembrances. John continued, "Traci you go to Portsmouth and interview the principal people in the affair. The file says that Peter is confined in the Navy Yard Brig, so I'll go there and see him."

"Aye, aye sir," Traci said.

"Traci how many times have I told you when it's just us, leave the sirs out? If it weren't for your help, Sarah and I would not be together." John said

Sarah and Traci just smiled at that. Traci was Sarah's confidant on all things John. Traci and John had been partners for over a year before Sarah was assigned to JAG Headquarters.

"Okay John," Traci said in a tone that sounded like that of a chastised child. The three officers shared a laugh at that.

Just then there was a knock on Sarah's door. When she shouted the usual "Enter", the admiral's yeoman PO First Class Jason Tiner came in and handed a message slip to John saying, "Excuse me please sir ma'am but Commander Marshall I left this message on your desk and I saw that you weren't in your office and I wanted to make sure you got it. The woman who called said that it was of the most extreme urgency."

John scanned the slip, smiled and asked, "She actually said this Tiner?"

"Yes sir she said "write it word for word"." Tiner said.

John showed the slip to Traci and Sarah. They both smiled when they saw it. Tiner had written, 'See me or else, your office 10:00AM'. Tiner had also checked the box that had 'No name given' printed next to it.

John said, "It's from Gail. I imagine she'll be here at 1000."

John looked at his watch. Before he could say anything Sarah spoke up and said, "It's 0957." Tiner, Traci and John just looked at her. It was the usual reaction to her uncanny ability to know the time without looking at her watch.

John said, "Thank you Tiner. That will be all." Tiner beat a hasty retreat to his office.

John stood up to go to his office. Just before he could put his hand on his office door to open it, he heard a loud female voice say, "Johnny Marshall if you don't come over here and give me a big kiss I will tell everyone here all the nasty things you did as a kid."

As John crossed the bullpen he said just as loudly, but in Marty Feldman's British accent, "Too late. The Navy requires full disclosure."

When he got to the woman he picked her up in a big bear hug and laid a wet and noisy kiss on her cheek anyway saying, "Hiya Goofy!"

5


	2. Chapter 2

_**Timing Interlude**_

_**Chapter 2**_

Tuesday, September 2, 1997

JAG Headquarters

Everyone in the bullpen was astounded at John's display. Normally they saw a very professional officer in John who kept his displays of affection private and never uttered any derogatory remarks. They all surmised that the woman was some kind of good friend or relative.

As he put her down Gail said, "Oh you're just like your father except he always pinched my cheek till it was blue."

Still holding her hand John said, "Come on get in here before we embarrass ourselves further." They both walked into Sarah's office.

When they entered, John closed the door and said, "Major Sarah Mackenzie and Lt. Traci Manetti, my I present my cousin Gail Grayson."

After shaking hands with each of them Sarah asked Gail, "So why does he call you Goofy?"

Gail smacked his arms as she said, "He's the only one who calls me that."

John spoke up saying, "Ever since I've known her she's had this goofy laugh. She would use it more times with me than anyone else." He changed the subject saying, "Well how did Peter get himself into this mess?"

Gail sat down to tell her story saying, "Well he was trying to help a petty officer in his command named Limon who he suspected was pilfering drugs. Pete found a case of morphine bottles in Limon's locker. So instead of reporting everything to NCIS Peter confronted him. Limon said that loan sharks were into him for thousands of dollars and they said they wanted morphine to sell on the black market.

Well Pete, ever the white knight, offered to help him out. They went and signed a Humvee out of the motor pool and went to meet the loan shark and his friends in Norfolk. It seems that the loan shark was associated with a local gang.

Well the deal went sour and there was some shooting. Limon and Pete got out of there with Limon driving. As they tried to get away, the Humvee was shot up. They apparently passed a Norfolk cop that was responding to the gunshots. He put out a BOLO on the Humvee. The Virginia troopers set up a road block on the I-264 bridge from Norfolk to Portsmouth. Limon tried to crash it but he was stopped. As a result two troopers were struck by the Humvee and thrown down the road. They both had severe head injuries."

"Ouch, I bet the Virginia troopers were reluctant to release them to the Navy," Traci said.

"Yeah they were. It took all my vast powers of persuasion to get him released to the Marine guards who showed up to take custody. I don't know the UCMJ like John or any of you here do, that's why I was so set on getting Pete into Navy custody. I knew he'd get a fairer shake than in any civilian court," Gail responded.

"We'll do what we can for him. Just so you know when we go into court for the Article 32 hearing, Sarah will be his first chair defender and Traci and I will assist, you will only be able to sit in the audience," John reminded.

"How come you won't sit first chair? I've never know you to pass on responsibility," Gail said.

"Well it's like I said before in our Staff Meeting, it would be like a doctor treating his own family. Don't worry Sarah is the best attorney we have," John said.

"Wow that's some admission coming from him. He must be in love with you," Gail said facetiously to Sarah.

The three officers each ducked their heads half in embarrassment and half in humor at Gail's joke.

She saw it immediately exclaiming, "He really is?"

John was the one who nodded, saying, "Yeah I really am."

Sarah jerked her head up at his declaration while Traci smiled brightly.

"Well it's about time." Gail said.

Only the fact they were sitting in an office with the blinds open to the full view of those in bullpen kept Gail from jumping up and hugging her cousin. She instead grasped his hand and looking to Sarah with a big smile said, "I am so happy to hear that."

"Has everyone in the Marshall family been rooting for John to fall in love?" Sarah happily asked.

Gail just smirked happily and nodded her head saying, "Yeah pretty much."

The four attorneys just laughed at that.

John was the first to speak saying, "Alright Traci you can get to Portsmouth by the late afternoon if you leave now. Start in the pharmacy and go from there. Since it's such a long ride you may as well stay overnight and come back tomorrow. Keep me informed all the way," John instructed.

Traci got up saying, "I thought of that to. I have an overnight bag already in my car. I'll call when I know something." Before she left she said, "Gail it was a pleasure meeting you. It will be nice working with you."

Gail got up to shake hands saying, "Likewise."

After Traci left Gail gave into her curiosity asking, "How did she get that drawl?"

John told Gail Traci's story of adoption ending with, "Her dad is Senator George Manetti from Virginia."

Gail just whistled saying, "Jeez I thought Ann Marie was connected, but Senator Manetti is the ranking member of the Senate's Appropriations Committee."

Both John and Sarah said together, "Yeah we know." John added, "Not a lot of people here at JAG know so keep it on the low down."

"Hey my lips are sealed,' Gail said mimicking turning a key at her closed lips.

"Okay Sarah, after Gail and I finish interviewing Pete, why don't we meet for lunch?" John suggested.

"Since I'm going to be first chair, let's have him brought over here. That way I can get a feel as to how to defend him. Then we'll go to lunch," Sarah said picking up the phone and calling the brig.

Gail and John nodded at that. Gail had to smile as she said, "Sarah really takes charge. Do you two ever argue about that?"

Gail just burst out laughing when both John and Sarah emphatically said, "NO!"

1130 Local Time

JAG Headquarters

Conference Room

Peter was brought over to JAG in his uniform. He was fit and medium built standing about 5'9" with close cropped brown hair. He wore glasses. He sat straight in his chair as he waited for Sarah, Gail and John to come in.

A marine guard stood at 'parade rest' at the door of the room. When the door opened and Gail came in with the two officers, Sarah on her crutches, Peter sprang up at attention. The marine guard went to take up his guard station outside the room to give the group their privacy.

It was John who said, "As you were Pete." John went over to shake his hand and give him a quick embrace. Then he introduced Sarah saying, "Senior Chief Peter Tierney, meet your attorney Major Sarah Mackenzie."

"Ma'am, pleased to meet you" Peter said taking her hand to help her into the chair at the head of the table next to him.

"Thank you Senior Chief. Your pleasure at meeting me remains to be seen." Sarah replied, going into her attorney in charge mode.

"Yes ma'am," Peter said contritely. He looked to John and Gail as they sat on the opposite side of the table. He was about to voice his question as to why John wasn't the attorney in charge when John said, "I'll explain later. Right now the major is in charge."

Peter nodded his head and waited for Sarah to start.

Sarah opened the case file and went right to business, "Senior Chief I'm going to be your lead counsel. I have some requirements from those I defend; one, do not lie to me and two outside our privileged conversations keep your mouth shut and three, do what I tell you. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes ma'am," Peter immediately said.

"Now tell me how this mess got started," Sarah asked.

Peter sighed as he said, "Well I am the Assistant Director in the Pharmacy at Portsmouth Naval Hospital. Petty Officer Limon is one of the medical corps man assigned to work there. One day as I was double checking the inventory when I saw a discrepancy in the count for the prescriptions and the narcotics, such as the morphine."

"How much of a discrepancy was there?" Sarah asked.

"Well over the course of two months, I noticed that there was a case of morphine and a few bottles of 'Oxy Contin' missing."

"How much is in a case of morphine?" Sarah asked.

"Twelve vials ma'am," Peter answered.

"Morphine is a strictly controlled narcotic. How can a whole case go missing without being immediately discovered?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"Well when you give out morphine to the floors, you have to account for every vial in a master log. Apparently Limon was falsifying the log. I only discovered the discrepancy when one of the nurses on the floor called to say she needed some. Before we give it out, we check to see when the last time that unit got some and how much against the log. Well the nurse said she received four vials, I immediately knew something was wrong. Because the log said five vials went up to that unit at that time."

"What did you do then Chief?" Sarah asked.

Peter went on to explain, "At first I thought that it was a simple error. But when I went back in the log and checked it against the nursing station records, I saw that the same discrepancy occurred more than a dozen times over the past two months. I also saw that the count of Oxy Contin was off to. That is almost on the same level as morphine."

"Who did you tell about this?" Sarah asked.

"I went and asked PO Limon why there was a discrepancy." Peter answered.

"What did he say?" Sarah asked.

"Well I wanted to speak with him out of the office so I went looking for him. I found him in the locker room. When I found him at his locker he at first didn't see me. As I was behind him I saw him put a vial of morphine into a case with some other vials. I thought he had a habit or was addicted. So I asked him what was with all the morphine," Peter explained.

"What did he say?" Sarah asked.

"That's when he told me about the loan shark he owed and the gang associated with him. Limon said that if he gave the gang drugs from the hospital to sell, the loan would be wiped clean. Well Limon agreed and he had been pilfering for the same time as it was indicated in the logs," Peter said.

"Why did you agree to go with him to see the loan shark?" Sarah asked.

"I thought I could get the loan shark and the gang to back off seeing as the debt should have been paid. Limon is a good kid I just wanted to help him," Peter said.

"Didn't it occur to you that stealing narcotics was a federal offense? Also you could have been charged with obstruction," Sarah asked.

"No ma'am I didn't think that far ahead. I just thought of helping PO Limon out of a jam." Peter explained.

"Okay what happened when you met the loan shark?" Sarah asked.

"Well we were supposed to meet in a parking lot across town from the hospital. When we got there he wasn't there. The gang members were there. They were a local biker gang named the _Sons of Fire_. I tried to convince the gang leader to back off but he wanted Limon to keep the 'pipeline open'. I told them we'd think about it. I just wanted to get us out of there and I told Limon to get back in the Hummer.

He got behind the wheel and in his panic he put the car in reverse instead of forward. He ran down one of the gang's bikes. That's when they pulled their guns out and started shooting. We peeled out of there and almost hit a patrol car that was just pulling into the parking lot. The officers must have heard the gunshots. We didn't know they had called for help until we got to the bridge to Norfolk. That's where Limon panicked again. I tried to tell him to stop, but he was too scared and he tried to ram his way through the roadblock. That's where we got arrested."

"So your contention is that you failed to report the theft in order to do your own investigation. When your investigation showed that Limon was in trouble, you tried to help him out it by trying to convince the loan shark and the gang to back off. Am I right so far?" Sarah asked.

"Yes ma'am that sounds about right," Peter agreed.

Okay we can admit to the failure to report missing narcotics, but based on what you told me I think we can make a deal. We still need to do an Article 32 hearing to get this story on the record. Would you be interested in turning state's witness against PO Limon, the loan shark and the gang?" Sarah asked.

"At this point ma'am I will do whatever you need me to do to get this mess cleared up with little damage to my career as possible. I still have a family to support." Peter agreed.

"Well you're going to have to accept some punishment but we'll see what the convening authority thinks. I read your record. It's been spotless until now with a Bronze Star and so forth. Where did you earn the 'Star'?" Sarah asked.

"In Panama ma'am when..," Peter began to explain but John coughed loudly. Everyone looked at him expectantly.

John told the story from there. "He won it by taking me out of the line of fire. When we were in Panama our SeAL Team was assigned to root out some of Noriega's loyalists who were hiding in the jungle. When we encountered them there was a fire fight. During the fight, I stepped into a hole and twisted my ankle. Before I could gather myself and take cover Peter came from his cover and pulled me behind a rock. He was firing into the trees as he pulled me back. When everything calmed down there were four dead loyalists. My sprained ankle was the only injury on our side. Lt. Comdr. Hutchinson our team leader put Peter up for the medal. The other members of the team corroborated the events and so forth."

Sarah and Gail just looked between Peter and John. Gail asked John, "I know he won the Bronze Star, but I didn't know he got it for saving you. Why didn't you tell us when you two came home from that?"

"The incident was mentioned at his awards ceremony, but you were unable to be there. Only Pete's wife and kids and I were in Norfolk when he received the medal. You being his only other family, after Aunt Pat and Uncle Billy passed away, were busy being a cop in New York and trying to get into law school that you couldn't get away. After that the subject never came up when we met for the holidays and so forth." John explained for him and Peter.

Sarah piped up saying, "That explains that." Then she added with a twinkle, "What I find amazing is that you were so clumsy."

John was about to respond but then he saw her smile at him. He just said, "Just wait till your leg gets better and we work out in the gym I'll show you how clumsy I really am."

Sarah was about to say something about not waiting that long, but to show her tonight, but she remembered that she was at work. So she coughed loudly to calm down her erotic thoughts of how clumsy John wasn't.

John filled the verbal gap by asking Peter, "Do you think that the pilfering is bigger than what Limon was doing?"

Peter answered, "It might be. There had been reports of some drug shipments going missing before they reached the hospital. You know the usual reports of 'stuff falling off the truck' and so forth. From what I heard NCIS was investigating."

"I think that while Lt. Manetti is down there, she should look into that, do you agree major?" John asked Sarah.

Sarah replied, "I agree. Have her look into the drug logs and see who else was making bad entries. What ever she finds, she'll give to NCIS for them to investigate further."

"Okay when we get back to my office I'll call her. She should be on her way by now." John said.

They all got up to leave. As Peter was being led away to the brig, Gail went to embrace him saying, "Don't worry Pete, we'll get through this."

1715 Local Time

Portsmouth Naval Hospital

Portsmouth, VA

When John returned to his office he did call Traci's cell phone and let her know her new avenue of investigation. With midday traffic being light, she arrived at the hospital just 2 and ½ hours after she left JAG.

Traci began to interview the hospital administrator, Commander Paul Wells. Wells said that he was astounded at hearing about Limon and Peter being arrested. He stated that he didn't know anymore than what he already told the NCIS agents who already interviewed.

When Traci left Wells she went to interview the Director of the Pharmacy, Lt Commander Roger Tate. The Pharmacy was down in the basement of the hospital among some other storage and mechanical equipment rooms.

Traci began her interview by asking about Peter. Tate had nothing but good things to say about Peter. Then she asked, "Lt. Commander did you know that there was some discrepancy between the pharmacy logs and the nursing unit logs?"

"No lieutenant I did not. When I conducted my monthly audit for July during the first week of August, I didn't see any discrepancies. We are still in the middle of August's audit. I'll wait to see what I see."

Traci continued, "Sir my associates at JAG told me that a local gang was involved in the incident with the senior chief and petty officer. Do you have any knowledge of any of their activities at or near the hospital?"

"No I do not know of any involvement with the Sons of Fire," Tate answered.

Traci resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. One of the first rules of interviewing subjects who may be suspects was to not show any reaction to untruths or revelations that were uttered. John had told her of Peter saying the biker gang was the Sons of Fire. She knew she didn't mention the name of the gang to Tate. She figured he must be lying about something. So she decided to conclude her interview.

"Thank you Lt. Commander. I think I got all that I need from you. I'm going to find some character witnesses for Senior Chief Tierney that may be willing to speak up for him." She got up quickly and left the office.

When the door to the pharmacy clicked closed behind her she wasted no time in phoning John with her suspicions. Being that it was the end of the business day the hall was deserted. When she got John on the phone she said, "John I think that the Director of Pharmacy may be involved. When I asked him if he knew of a local gang, he came out with the name of the biker gang without any prompting from me. Can we get a background check on Lt. Commander Roger Tate?"

"Sure Traci, I'll pull his file," John said.

She was too engrossed in listening to John she didn't hear when someone came up from behind her. She heard John caution her, "Be careful there lieutenant."

"Don't worry sir I will," Traci assured her partner.

Before she could disconnect the call she felt an arm grab her around her waist from behind and another hand with a rag cover her mouth and nose. She dropped her phone and managed to get one loud cry out before the rest were muffled by the rag. She smelled a strong chemical odor. As the chloroform started to take effect and she saw darkness creeping around from the edges she struggled to break free, but the arms holding her were too strong. She continued to struggle for a short time before she finally collapsed into unconsciousness.

_**To be continued**_

7


	3. Chapter 3

_**Timing Interlude**_

_**Chapter 3**_

September 7, 1997

1740 PM

JAG Headquarters

John was into SeAL mode. He was totally focused on what he needed to do. He had heard Traci cry out before she disconnected her call. After her initial cry, he heard muffled sounds of her struggle. Then he heard the phone disconnect.

Sarah, Gail and he were in his office when he took the call. As he hung up the phone he told Sarah, "Traci's in trouble. I heard sounds of someone attacking her, then her struggle. I have to get down there. Damnit, I never should have sent her alone."

"Don't do that to yourself. You would have done the same with me. How many times have we and you and Traci split up and investigated a case from different angles," Sarah admonished him.

John smiled at her saying, "I knew I loved you for a reason. Thanks sweetheart." He got up from his desk and looking out the window to ensure no one saw he bent and kissed her. He said, "I'm going in to see the admiral. Will you please call the NCIS office at Portsmouth to get them on the case?"

"Sure I will." As he left Sarah called out, "Take someone with you to Portsmouth."

John waved at her acknowledging her suggestion.

When he went before the admiral he said, "Sir I need to get to Portsmouth ASAP. Lt. Manetti is in trouble."

AJ asked, "What kind of trouble?"

"Sir she was investigating my cousin's case from there. She called me to notify me of a suspicion she had about the Director of Pharmacy. While she was on the phone with me I heard her being attacked. Major Mackenzie is calling NCIS out there. I need to get there to help find her."

"Okay, get going. Take Rabb with you and John." AJ said as John turned to go.

"Yes sir?" John replied.

"Get her back son." AJ said.

"I will sir. She's my best friend the other sister I didn't have." John said.

When he came out of the admiral's office he went right into Harm's. He said, "Harm lets go Traci's in trouble in Portsmouth."

To his credit Harm didn't hesitate. He just got up and pulled his hat on and grabbed his car keys. "We'll take my car, it's faster."

John agreed then he said, "Let me get my ready bag."

While John went to his Z-28 Camaro to get his weapons bag, Gail came out to him. She said, "I'm coming with you."

"No way, you're a civilian. If anything should happen to you my mom won't let me hear the end of it." John said.

"Since when have you given a shit what Aunt Maureen says?" Gail asked. She then added, "You just go and do what you want anyway."

John knew he wasn't going to win the argument so he said, "Okay get into my car." He then called over to Harm who was parked two spaces over, "Harm Gail is coming with us we'll take my car."

Harm acquiesced but as he walked over to John's car, John gave him the keys saying, "You'd better drive."

Harm agreed. When they were on their way John introduced them. Harm said, "Mrs. Grayson, I suggest you stay out of the way. This could get dangerous."

Gail scoffed saying, "Look commander, I was a beat cop in Washington Heights, upper Manhattan, for three years before I got my law degree. I can handle myself. Besides I'm obligated to go, my brother got the lieutenant into this mess."

Harm smiled at her story then he asked, "Do you have a weapon?"

Gail pulled out a Smith & Wesson .38 automatic. She said, "I still have the carry permit for this. I had to retrieve this from the Marine guard who confiscated this before I went into headquarters."

Harm was very impressed, John less so. He and Gail had engaged in some serious shooting competitions at the NYPD range at Rodman's Neck, the Bronx when they were in law school together. So he knew what Gail was capable of.

Soon they drove onto the beltway on their way out of DC.

1842 Local Time

Portsmouth Naval Hospital

As Traci slowly awoke she felt that she had the worst headache. As she came more awake she realized that she couldn't see. She felt that a cloth had been tied over her eyes and knotted at the back of her head. She tried to move to get up but she was unable to. Her hands were tied at her wrists behind her back and her ankles had been tied together with thin cotton cords. A rag had been stuffed into her mouth. She could taste it, she hoped she wouldn't choke on it. Another cloth held it in place as it had been tied between her teeth and knotted at the nape of her neck.

She also felt that she was wrapped in a sheet. She could smell the chlorine bleach used to clean it. She also felt that there were other sheets piled on top of her. Though she could not see it, she believed that she was in some sort of linen cart. As she lay on her side in a fetal position, she couldn't straighten her legs due to the confines of the linen cart. As she kicked out, the toes of her shoes came in contact with the hard side of the cart.

'Okay so it wasn't a canvas cart.' She thought to herself. She started to kick at the side.

Unfortunately the cart was in the basement linen storage room against the back wall with five more rows of carts between her and the outside world. What she didn't know was that her assailant had placed her in that cart that deep in the room so that he could have the time to get as far away from his crime as he could.

She began to remember what had happened to her. She was on her cellphone with John. Before she could disconnect her call though she had been grabbed from behind and a cloth had been clamped onto her face. She had hated the smell of chloroform ever since she was six and her tonsils had been removed. She had twisted her head to escape the smothering aroma but her efforts had been in vain. As dizziness over took her she noticed that her cellphone was on the floor. The last thing she remembered seeing before she completely blacked out was that it was lit up as her call to John had not been disconnected. She began to hope that John had heard her attack.

She tried to listen for any sounds, but she was unable to hear anything beyond the pile of sheets she was under. Still she kept banging her feet against the side of the cart.

Eventually though she became exhausted and out of breath. The closeness of the sheet wrapped around her, the gag stuffed in her mouth and the pile of linen on top of her did not allow for a very good exchange of air. Underneath her blindfold she began to weep hoping John had heard her attack and was now coming to her rescue.

1850 Local Time

On the drive out to Portsmouth John was on the phone with NCIS. Their NCIS lab technician had put a trace on Traci's cellphone. Fortunately it was still on so it's location came up. It was still in the hospital. They were twenty minutes away from the hospital as Harm drove directly there. They met the NCIS agent named Chris Pocchi and his partner, Michele Weatherly. John introduced Gail and her reference to the case.

Pocchi was on the phone with his lab technician, Abby Sciutto. She was directing them to the basement of the hospital. John tried calling it to see if he could hear the ringer, but it kept going immediately to voice mail. Eventually Abby told them that they were in the area, within a few feet of the phone. They were in a hallway with linen carts lined up against each wall. Harm, John and the two agents started to move the carts around looking for the phone. Eventually they found it on the floor of the linen storage room. They opened the door to the linen storage room and moved a cart that was immediately inside the door.

Gail was the first to see it and said, "Here it is."

As Gail bent to pick it up, she heard a soft thumping. She shushed the others as they started to speak. The thumping continued.

Then John called out, "Traci?!"

He was rewarded with a renewed sound of thumping.

"She's in one of the carts!" Harm said. Then he shouted, "Keep banging Traci, we'll find you."

The five searchers started to move carts out of the room. As they got closer to the back of the room, they could hear the thumping getting louder until they eventually got to the cart where Traci was lying. John knocked off what ever linen was on top until he got to Traci's sheet wrapped body. He pulled the sheet off her and then sat her up. As he pulled the blindfold up over her head Traci blinked against the sudden onslaught of light. Then as she beheld John's anxious expression, she began to cry in earnest. John gently bent her forward and untied the cleave gag and pulled the wet rag from her mouth. Traci sucked in huge gulps of air. Harm reached in and helped John lift their colleague out of the cart and sat her on the pile of towels and sheets they had been thrown on the floor. When they untied the cords from around her wrists Traci reached out her arms and circled John's neck. John held her close and let her sob into his shoulder. While John comforted Traci, Gail untied the cords from her ankles.

Eventually Traci calmed down enough to stand. Gail had looked into the cart that held Traci and found her purse and Navy hat. She dropped Traci's phone in the purse.

John held her until she assured him that she was alright to walk, but when he let her go Traci became dizzy and almost fell down.

John said, "Let's get you to the ER and have you checked out."

Traci tried to protest saying, "I'm fine really. I was just a little dizzy that's all."

But John said, "That's an order lieutenant!"

Traci acquiesced. As they walked to the elevators, Harm and John were on either side of her to ensure that could catch her if she fell. Gail followed carrying Traci's purse and cover.

As they got into the elevator Traci said, "I wasn't able to see who attacked me, but it was right after I was speaking to the pharmacy director, Lt. Commander Tate."

Pocchi spoke up and said, "We'll put a BOLO (be on the lookout) out for him. Let me go to the HR office to see if he has a car registered to park here."

John and Harm agreed. After they got Traci settled in the ER, John called JAG Headquarters to notify the admiral and Mac that Traci had been found in good shape. Then the three men went back down to the basement and the pharmacy. They weren't surprised to find that it was dark and that Tate wasn't in his office.

"Now what's next?" Harm asked more to hear the question said aloud than in bewilderment.

"Now let me call Sarah and have her go interview Limon. I pulled his part of the file and I saw that Carolyn Imes was his attorney. Maybe he can give us a lead as to who is really behind this whole mess." John said pulling out his cellphone.

John continued resolutely, "After that we go talk to the Sons of Fire."

4


	4. Chapter 4

_**Timing Interlude**_

_**Chapter 4**_

September 7, 1997

2215 Local Time

Portsmouth Holiday Inn

It was very late in the evening when Traci was released from the emergency room. Seeing how late it was she, Gail, Harm and John had decided to stay the night in Portsmouth.

So being that Gail was the only civilian and was not eligible to stay at the VOQ at Norfolk, they checked into the local Holiday Inn where they managed to get adjoining rooms. Naturally the guys and gals got separate rooms.

When they got to their hotel room Harm called Diane to let her know of their plans.

While Harm had his wife on the phone John asked to speak with her to ask, "Hey Di can you please pick Sarah up and bring her home? She still can't drive with her leg yet."

"Sarah and I have already planned to do that. She called me earlier when she figured that you all would stay the night being it was so late. I mean that's what a sister is for anyway," Diane sweetly said.

John laughed and said, "Thanks Di. Tell Sarah I love her and I'll see her tomorrow."

"Tell her yourself John, she's sitting right here," Diane said.

Sarah got on the phone and asked, "How's Traci?"

"She's fine. She's staying in the same room as Gail," John told her.

"Good don't worry about me, I'm fine. Diane and I will stay at my apartment tonight. It will be our first girly night ever. It'll be fun."

John laughed again saying, "Well in that case I'll leave you two to have your 'girly night'. I love you Sarah."

"I love you to John. I'll see you tomorrow." Sarah replied lovingly.

They hung up on each other.

John told Harm, "They'll stay at Sarah's in Georgetown. Sarah said something about it being their first 'girly night' together."

Harm shared a laugh with John then he asked him, "You should make Sarah an honest woman and marry her. Don't wait."

John looked at him sideways. Harm was giving John his own advice back at him. John answered with a simple, "We'll see."

Harm smirked at him.

In Gail and Traci's room just before they turned out the lights Traci felt the need to express her gratitude, "Mrs. Grayson I .."

"Please lieutenant, call me Gail. Mrs. Grayson is my mother in law. Every time I hear Mrs. Grayson I turn around looking for her," Gail said.

Traci smiled as she replied, "Okay Gail and it's Traci. Anyway I just wanted to say thank you for coming with John and Commander Rabb to find me. I really appreciate it."

"Oh Traci it was the least I could do," Gail said as she smiled indulgently.

The two shared a quick hug and then they got into their separate beds.

Traci asked, "I see you carry a weapon. Why?"

"Well I used to be a cop in Washington Heights, New York. That's upper Manhattan. I still have the carry permit. When I drive around Los Angelis I like to have it near me. A lot of carjackings happen out there. I feel safer," Gail explained.

"Have you ever had to use it?" Traci asked.

Gail told her story, "Yeah one night in my third year on the job I did. A guy robbed a liquor store on upper Broadway. The owner set off a silent alarm. The perpetrator came out of the store waving a machete. When my partner and I rolled up we had our weapons drawn as soon as we saw the machete. We told him to drop it, but he came at us. He was on my side of the car coming right at me. I guess he thought me being a girl I wouldn't have the guts to fire. Well I put two in his chest. It turns out that his post mortem drug screen showed high levels of PCP. It was ruled good shoot."

"It must have been really tough to deal with that," Traci commented.

"Yeah it was. After that I was snapping at everyone, my partner, my family. I was hell to be with. I found out later I was dealing with Post Traumatic Stress. That's when I decided to go into law school. I just didn't want to have that kind of responsibility any more.

It was just a coincidence that John and I started Fordham Law the same year. Everyone thought we were attached at the hip. We had the same class schedule."

Traci laughed at that then she asked, "What was John like in law school?"

Gail continued, "As you know he can become very intense. (Traci nodded at that.) Well back then he was more than intense, he was in a foul mood. He had just broken up with his girl friend and he was fighting with his mom over his career choice. So seeing he didn't want to live at home and I needed someone to study with I told him to stay with me at our Aunt Margaret's house in City Island, 15 minutes down the road from Fordham. Her children are a little older than us and they were married with their own families. So she had some extra rooms and she was glad to put us up. She liked having young people in the house again. There were times when she came down in the morning and found us asleep at the dining room table drooling on our legal pads."

Traci laughed at that to.

Gail continued, "So anyway because he was dealing with his family situation and I was dealing with my PTSD we really needed each other. As we progressed in law school we started to have a lot of fun, going to mixers, fraternity parties. I met my husband at one of the mixers. There were times we went to the police range and shot a lot of targets up. It helped to get a lot of aggression out."

Traci smiled at that and said, "That was a nice story." Switching tracks she asked, "So where do we go with this investigation now?"

"Well John wants to shake the Sons of Fire tree to see what comes out. We might find someone to say Peter wasn't involved in their pipeline."

"That should be interesting to see,' Traci said.

"Yeah me to, I'd like to be there to see how he works," Gail agreed.

They switched off the lights and went to sleep.

September 8, 1997

0800 Local Time

Norfolk NCIS Office

Norfolk, V A

When they decided to stay the night in Portsmouth, Gail had gone out to get a change of clothes and underwear at the local shopping mall, while the three officers had their overnight bags already prepared.

When they left the hotel the officers all had their navy uniforms on while Gail was wearing what she purchased, a pair of jeans, a white man styled button down shirt and a red camisole. She wore the same shoes from the day before, power executive stiletto pumps.

After breakfast they met with Pocchi and Weatherly at the local NCIS office on the Norfolk Naval Base.

John asked, "Are you familiar with the motorcycle gang the Sons of Fire?"

It was Weatherly who answered, "Yeah they're a real pain in the ass. We get a lot of reports of them harassing the Navy personnel. They are all ex military or Hell's Angels wannabes. They are always trying to weasel their way onto the base, showing fake or expired identification cards, following supply trucks and trying to catch anything (she held up both her hands with two fingers each forming quotes) falling off. They hang out at a bar in the seedier side of Norfolk called the Drinking Lamp."

"What they don't have their own clubhouse?" Harm asked factitiously.

"No they don't. They're locals without jobs and they just started hanging out together. They don't even have jackets with logos. Like I said before they're Hells Angels wannabes. The name 'Sons of Fire' was as close as they could get without the real Hell's Angels coming down on them." Pocchi said.

"Is there any chance that Commander Tate is letting things fall off a truck for them?" Traci asked.

"Well given that he may be the one that attacked you and he is not in today, I would say he is a strong suspect," Michele replied.

"The BOLO on his car came up negative because it's still parked in the employee lot at the hospital. Michele and I are going to his residence next," Pocchi told them.

"Well when you do that, we'll go the Drinking Lamp and speak to the Sons of Fire." John added. He looked at his cousin and asked, "Any chance that outfit can be sexed up a bit?"

Gail said, "Turn around boys." After Harm, Chris and John dutifully complied Gail took off her shirt and camisole. The she put the shirt back on, but instead of buttoning it back up she took the front tails and tied them in front just under her ample breasts. She pushed up on her breasts, adjusted her bra so that she could show more cleavage. When she turned around she undid her pony tail and fluffed her hair out some.

"Six months of undercover work in the NYPD Vice Squad," she said to unasked questions in Harm's and the others' stares. John just smiled. Again he was doing something unexpected to push the case forward.

1300 Local Time

Drinking Lamp Bar

Norfolk, VA

John had a denim jacket and jeans and scuffed work shoes on. He wore the jacket over his white tee shirt.

He had his Berretta in a holster at the small of his back under his outfit. He had his sunglasses on as he and Gail got out of his Camaro outside the Drinking Lamp. They walked past the line of motorcycles parked outside the bar. Gail was really working her role of his girlfriend. She had the gum snapping and the nasally city girl accent going. _(Think Marisa Tomei in 'My Cousin Vinny.) _As they walked into the dimly lit bar they had to remove their sunglasses. They went up to the bar and ordered drinks. John said, "Give me a beer."

Gail said, "I'll have a Manhattan." The Manhattan came out nasal sounding like Miinhainttan.

The bartender told her, "We only serve beer or straight liquor. We don't do any fru-fru mixed drinks."

"Okay, then give me two fingers of 'Jack'," Gail said putting her hand on the bar. She held her pinky and index finger out with her ring and middle fingers close between them to indicate the level of 'Jack Daniels' she wanted.

The bartender filled up a tumbler glass for her. She gulped it own in one shot. John just sipped his beer in an effort to hide his smile. He knew Gail could hold her liquor.

Gail gravitated to the pool table in the rear of the room. She and John had seen a group of men in denim jackets gathered around there. They both figured that the gang would make up the majority of the bar patrons at this time of day.

Gail saw that there was no money on the rim of the table to indicate who was playing next. So she went over and slapped a $5.00 dollar bill on the rim saying, "I play winner."

One guy who was shooting stopped, looked up at her and said, "Hell darlin' I'll play ya now."

"Rack em up sport," Gail said snapping her gum.

"The name's not sport, it's Rock," Rock said.

"Okay 'Rock," Gail said. She then asked, "What are we playing?"

"Eight ball, we'll lag to see who breaks," Rock said.

"That's okay sport, you can break," Gail conceded.

Rock grimaced at the use of sport again but he racked the balls. He asked, "What are we playing for?"

"How we play for $5.00 a ball?" Gail asked.

"Fine by me," Rock answered and then took his shot. While he broke the rack good enough, no balls were sunk.

"Nothin'" Gail said.

As Gail walked around the table and examined her options she was humming a tune. John recognized it as 'Fools Rush In'. he took a sip of his beer to hide his smile. She finally settled her self and called her shot, "15 Ball in the corner pocket." She took the shot. The cue ball smacked loudly against the 15, which rolled true to the corner pocket. She proceeded to run the table never giving Rock another shot. When she sunk the 8 ball she held out her hand, that's 8 balls times $5.00 a ball that makes it $40.00 you owe me."

Rock was incensed. "No fair lady, you didn't even give me a chance to take my shot."

"Well sport you had your shot at the break. It's not my fault you didn't sink anything sport," Gail said.

It was the last 'sport' that set Rock off. He advanced on Gail. Gail still had her cue stick in her hands. As Rock got close enough she swung the fat end across his head. As the stick broke in two over Rock's head, he staggered. Gail advance d on him. She hauled off and p u n c h e d his nose, hard. His nose collapsed and blood began to flow and Rock went down. Gail stood over him balancing on the balls of her feet in a fightin g stance waiting for him to get up.

As John watched the game he sipped his beer some more. When the game was over and Rock approached Gail ready to assault her, he put his beer down to watch the coming fight waiting to see if he needed to intercede. As Rock advanced on Gail he said softly to the bartender in a sing song voice, "Big mistake."

The bartender replied, "That little girl of yours is in a lot of trouble."

"No I'd worry about your friend there," John countered.

The bartender looked at him skeptically, but he settled in to watch the spectacle.

John winced when Gail snapped the cue stick across Rock's head. He winced again when Gail punched Rock's nose and he went down. He saw the group of men go over to Rock, looking like they were ready to join the fight. John took his Berretta out and loudly cocked it saying, "Uh, uh, stay out of it boys. It's still fair fight."

They all backed up knowing he got the drop on them. Rock looked over at John as he held the gun at the gang. He decided to stay down.

Gail was the next to speak as she said, "Look Rock I'll forgive the debt if you give me some information. What do you say?"

Rock wiped at his nose, he asked, "What are you a cop?" Rock asked.

"No I'm a lawyer. I need information," Gail told him.

"What kind of information?" Rock asked.

"Do you know Peter Tierney?" Gail asked.

"Who's he," Rock answered.

"He was the guy the other day that tried to get the Sons of Fire to back off his friend. He tried to pay his friend's debt to them. Well the Sons said no because they didn't want to give up their drug pipeline." Gail explained.

"I don't know about any drug pipeline. He didn't owe us any money and there was nothing to give up. The only thing I know of a pipeline is when this guy named Limon came to us a couple of weeks ago. He said that his bookie sent him to set up a pipeline of stuff we could sell. I didn't know what he was talking about so I told him to come back when he had something to sell. I thought he was going to get some truck or machine parts, you know cast offs from the base. They're always throwing good stuff out. We just take whatever they don't want and try to resell it. Limon said he could get us real good stuff to resell. He didn't deliver anything to us. The next time I saw him was when he and your friend came and ran over our bikes," Rock said.

"Do you know the name of Limon's bookie?" Gail asked.

"Limon said his n ame was Tate," Rock said.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Timing Interlude**_

_**Chapter 5**_

Wednesday, September 3, 1997

1330 Local Time

Drinking Lamp Bar

Norfolk, VA

Hearing that Tate was Limon's bookie, Gail and John realized that Limon had been lying about his involvement in the whole affair. They knew they had to speak with Limon.

After leaving the Drinking Lamp, John called Traci on his cell phone, "Traci, is there any news on the BOLO for Tate?"

"No sir, Commander Rabb and I are with Special Agent Pocchi now and nothing has turned up on Tate. He hasn't even returned to work since before my attack. I think he went into hiding." Traci answered.

"Well if that's the case we don't need to stay in Norfolk anymore. We have to get back to DC and speak with Limon. He's been lying to us and everyone else involved with the case." He told Traci about what Rock told them.

"Okay since we're all checked out of the hotel, we can go directly there. Commander Rabb and I will head back to DC with my car. We can meet you and Gail at JAG headquarters later this afternoon."

"That sounds good Traci. I'll call when Gail and I arrive in DC. I'll see you soon." John said.

Traci acknowledged him before they hung up. Turning to Gail he asked her, "By the way where do you plan to stay while you're in DC?"

Gail smiled sweetly before she said, "At your place. My stuff is already there."

All John could say was "Huh?" Then he recovered his wits as he asked, "How did you get into the house? I have an alarm and everything."

Gail let him off the hook as she said, "I shouldn't tease you so much, you get so literal. I should have said my rental car is in your driveway and my suitcase is in the trunk. When I first got here after Peter called me and after I got him into Navy custody, his wife Valerie put me up at their house in Portsmouth. I called your mom to get your phone number and address from her. I told her that I needed to get your help with Peter's case, so she gave them to me. I drove into DC from Portsmouth very early yesterday morning, parked my car in your driveway and took a cab from your place to the Navy Yard. I called and left that message you got from the cab."

John just shook his head then he had another thought. He picked up his cell phone and called, "Traci change of plans. After you drop Harm off pick up Sarah and come to my place. Gail and I are going to the Navy Brig to speak with Limon. After we do that, we'll meet at my place and based on what Gail and I get from Limon, we'll plan what our next move is."

"Aye, aye sir," Traci acknowledged.

1630 Local Time

Navy Brig

Washington Navy Yard, DC, SE

As he thought, it was late in the day when John parked at the Navy Yard Brig. He and Gail had stopped at his house so that he could change back into his uniform. Gail changed into one of her power business suits.

They called Lt. Carolyn Imes to inform her that they wanted to speak with her client. When they got there Imes said, "Petty Officer Limon has agreed to speak with you. The only condition he has is that he will only give you information if you can help him get a better deal with the convening authority."

John replied, "Based on what he tells us I'll speak with Mattoni and make my recommendations accordingly."

Imes agreed. John started off with, "Mrs. Grayson and I spoke to a guy named Rock. He is with the Sons of Fire. He told us that you offered to sell him and his gang some material or as he said it, 'set up a pipeline'. Can you verify anything he said?"

Limon was going to answer but Imes shook her head no and he remained silent. So John pressed on, "Does Senior Chief Tierney have anything to do with the theft of the drugs from the hospital?"

Imes nodded for him to answer as he said, "No he didn't."

He wanted to say more but Imes stopped him saying, "Only answer the questions that are asked."

"When Tierney found out you pilfered the drugs, what did you tell him?" John asked.

"I told him I owed a lot of money to my bookie from losing at gambling on baseball and the horses. I just needed to make a big score to pay it off." Limon answered.

"Who was your bookie?" Gail asked.

"Commander Tate." Limon answered.

"Did Tate tell you to pilfer the drugs?" John asked.

"Yeah he said that we could make some money and I could pay him off. He said he would doctor the books to make sure no one missed anything. Tate controlled all the record keeping. He didn't think Tierney would find out," Limon answered.

"When Tierney caught you pilfering the drugs, why did you two go to meet the Sons of Fire?" John asked.

"He insisted on going with me after I told him that I wanted to sell them surplus stuff just to make money to pay my bookie off. He didn't believe me. He thought that I was selling drugs. He said he would try and get the gang to back off me. When we got to the parking lot, Tierney told the 'Sons' that they weren't going to get any drugs from the hospital. I saw that the Sons had no idea what he was talking about and they were starting to get ticked off. I told Tierney we had to leave and I pulled him to the Humvee. When we got into the car I panicked and tried to get out of the lot to fast and I tried to go while the car was still in reverse. I ran over some of their bikes. That's when they started shooting at us.

We saw the police car when we left the parking lot, but they didn't follow us. Tierney was yelling at me to stop the car. I just ignored him. Then when we saw the road block on the interstate, I panicked again. I only tried to get around them. That stupid cop had to move his car onto the shoulder to block me. I couldn't avoid hitting him. I wasn't trying to kill anyone and I wasn't going to sell any drugs," Limon whined.

"No you weren't. You were going to use them."

The statement didn't come from John but from Gail. All during the interview she had been observing Limon. She saw that he was agitated, looking at the clock on the wall, sweating, wringing his hands, bouncing in his chair. She knew the signs of addiction as she had seen them all during her time on the NYPD.

"How long have you been using the Oxy?" Gail asked.

Limon knew he had been found out. "I've been using Oxy since I hurt my back a year ago. The pain just won't go away."

"So you thought you could try morphine," John asked. He was so proud of Gail for picking up on Limon's addiction.

Limon nodded yes.

"So you started stealing some. Did Tate help you steal it?" John asked.

"Yeah he did. He did it to keep me under his thumb. I already owed him a lot of money from the gambling. He figured I could sell some of the morphine and that would help me pay off my gambling debt. He said it wasn't costing him anything to get the morphine so it was a win-win for him," Limon said.

"So not only was Tate your bookie, he was your supplier," John asked him.

"Yeah he was," Limon admitted.

"Would you be willing to write your statement down detailing all that as well as Senior Chief Tierney had nothing to do with your activities and him being your passenger when you tried to run the roadblock?" John asked.

"Yes he would in exchange for dropping the charges of intending to sell the drugs and he gets recommended for treatment," Imes asked.

"Yeah I can suggest that Mattoni and Roberts do that, but as for the attempted murder and assault charges for running the roadblock, you're on your own Carolyn," John told her.

Carolyn nodded saying, "Thanks John."

At that John and Gail left the interview room.

1845 Local Time

Marshall Residence

Florida Avenue, DC, NW

Back at John's house Sarah, Traci and Ann Marie were talking at the kitchen table. Traci and Sarah were already changed out of their uniforms and into casual clothes. The two had stopped at Traci's apartment in Columbia Heights, not five minutes away from John's house on Florida Avenue, so she could change.

They were laughing along with Ann Marie. Ann Marie had recounted how Sam Seaborn and Josh Lyman were responding to a blog. "No matter what they posted, the blogger had a response. Pretty soon the press corps picked up on it. After I tapped danced through that mine field, I found the two of them in Sam's office. They were still blogging. So I pulled on Josh's ear and then I signed off from the blogger's site for them. I said if I ever caught them blogging again, I'd crucify them on the south lawn."

Traci and Sarah shared a laugh at that. Just as Ann Marie ended the story John threw the door open and shouted, "Hey Annie, guess who I brought home for supper!"

When Gail entered the kitchen Ann Marie squealed when she saw her cousin. She got up and embraced her enthusiastically.

John gave Sarah a nice kiss on the lips and Ann Marie on her cheek. He took Traci's hand and gallantly kissed the back.

Traci just batted her eyes and deepening her southern drawl said, "Why thank you suh."

Everyone shared a laugh. As John went upstairs to change into his casual clothes, Sarah, Gail, Ann Marie and Traci set to prepare dinner. Traci and Sarah had stopped at the market to get the groceries on the way home. They were making linguini with an Alfredo clam sauce. Because of her leg, Sarah was sitting on a stool as she prepared the salad at the counter. As the sauce was being cooked, Ann Marie would dip the stirring spoon and bring a sample over for Sarah to taste.

As the women worked there were the usual requests for ingredients, for tasting and generally much goodwill and laughter. This is what John heard as he came down the stairs. He stood on the landing between the kitchen and the living room listening to the happy sounds coming from his kitchen. He heard his sister, his cousin, his beloved and his colleague/adopted sister enjoying each other's company and he was immensely happy. He had to wipe at his eyes to keep from spilling the joyful tears that were welling up.

Taking a breath to calm himself, he stepped down into the kitchen and asked, "How are you doing ladies. Do you need me to do anything?"

He was totally taken aback as they all chorused as one, _**"NO!"**_

Ann Marie reached into the fridge and got a beer. Handing it to him, she said, "There are enough cooks in here already. Just go inside and relax for a few minutes. I'll call you when I need you to set the table."

John just shrugged in compliance and walked into the living room. After he set the table, the meal was spread and they all ate heartily.

After the dinner dishes were cleared and the dishwasher was loaded Ann Marie excused herself saying, "I know you need to talk about the case. So I'll say good night. Gail, John folded out the sofa bed in the den and I'll leave you some fresh towels, sheets and blankets. I'll see you in the morning."

She went over to Traci and gave her brief hug saying, "Goodnight Traci. Thank you for coming. It was nice having you here."

Traci returned the hug and the sentiment with a simple, "You're welcome. It was my pleasure being here."

As soon as Ann Marie went upstairs, the four attorneys set to work on Peter's case.

"So here is what we can prove from Limon's statements. Because of his back pain he was stealing Oxy from the pharmacy for almost a year. When the Oxy became ineffective he graduated to morphine. Limon was also into his bookie, Commander Tate, the Pharmacy Director, for beau coup bucks from gambling with him. When Tate caught Limon stealing morphine, Tate thought he could sink his hook in deeper.

But Peter found the discrepancy in the morphine bookkeeping and confronted Limon. When Peter confronted him Limon started telling lies about being in debt to a loan shark in the Sons of Fire. Peter thought that he could help Limon out by trying to get the Sons' to back off. But when Peter and Limon confronted the Sons', they had not idea what Peter was talking about. Limon panicked and ran over the motorcycles and shooting ensued. The police responded and set up a roadblock for the Humvee, which Limon crashed into seriously injuring two police officers.

Peter's only legal violation was a failure to properly report the discrepancy to his higher up, which was oddly enough Tate, who was aiding and abetting Limon's thefts," John summarized.

"Carolyn called me while you were on your way home. She told me that Limon would testify to everything at Peter's Article 32 hearing," Sarah said.

"So that should do it. What kind of penalty will Pete be facing?" Gail asked.

"He'll probably have to pay a fine in the low thousand dollars or a reduction in rank, but no brig time. Valerie will not be happy with that," John added.

"You're not kidding," Gail replied.

"Alright we'll see them in court on tomorrow," Sarah said.

"Okay that wraps that up. Though it would be helpful if we could find Tate, he is as culpable as Limon."

"We'll see what Weatherly and Pocchi come up with their BOLO," John said.

They all agreed with that. Then John said, "Traci I'll see you tomorrow."

As Traci got up and collected her things she said, "Good night John, Sarah." She shook hands with Sarah and she gave John a hug saying in his ear, "Thank you for coming after me John. I'll never forget it."

John said, "You're welcome Traci."

John walked her to her car and watched her drive away.

Thursday, September 4, 1997

1300 Local Time

JAG Headquarters

Washington Navy Yard, DC, SE

Peter Tierney's Article 32 hearing had gone just as his attorneys had said it would. Peter was ordered to pay a fine of $8,000.00 to be garnered from his pay and no brig time.

Peter was very appreciative. He, Gail, John and Sarah were walking out into the court yard with their lunch. John was carrying his and Sarah's lunch on his tray while Sarah moved along on her crutches.

They sat down at a table and commenced to eating. Peter said, "I can't thank you all enough. I can handle the fine and Val is happy that I can come home tonight."

"Well Pete just think before you become the white knight for everyone next time," John said.

"Yes sir," Peter replied.

They all finished their meal, got up and emptied their trays at the trash. Before they could walk back into the building there was a commotion at the entrance to the courtyard. People started to scatter as a man ran into the courtyard waving a gun.

It was Tate. After he had spoken to Traci he knew that he would eventually be found out and arrested. He had been the one to attack her. He did not intend to kill, merely slow her down enough to give him time to get away. Being that he was in the pharmacy, he had access to chloroform. After he knocked Traci out, he had tied her up, gagged and blindfolded her and laid her in the linen cart under the sheets and towels. Then he had fled the hospital.

Thinking that it would be easier for anyone to find him if he had his car, he decided to leave it in the hospital parking lot. He only went and sat in it to retrieve some of his merchandise, namely the drugs he intended to sell as well as the cash he had stashed away there. As he walked out of the parking lot he told the guard at the security booth that his car would not start and that he would grab a cab home. He had been living in a cheap motel for the past 2days.

As he sat in the hotel room, he thought of what he would lose his job, his pension and his freedom. He became so angry at Peter for finding the drug count discrepancy. That had been the one loose thread that unraveled his whole operation. He wanted Peter and anyone with him to suffer as he did.

That day Tate got up and cleaned himself up. He dressed in his white uniform and set out for the Navy Yard. With is uniform and Navy Identification, he had no problem getting through the Main Gate. He arrived just before 1100. He parked his rented car, which he acquired that morning for cash, so that he could easily look into the courtyard. If anyone came to the car they would find him reading the paper. He would say that he was waiting for his wife to come out from JAG for a lunch together. He was really waiting for an opportunity to kill Peter and then he would take his own life.

He saw Peter and Traci with a civilian female and two other officers, a male Navy Commander and a female Marine Major leaving the JAG building together carrying lunch trays. The marine was walking on crutches as the commander was carrying her food and his on his tray. They all sat at the same table to eat their meal. Tate waited and watched them eat.

Tate got up as he saw that they were finished eating. He walked into the courtyard with his hand in his pocket. As he got closer to Peter and the others he pulled his gun out and shouted, "Tierney, You ruined my life! Come join me in hell you bastard."

As he raised his gun to fire, two shots rang out, but they weren't from Tate's gun. Two spots appeared on his chest and blood spurted out as Tate fell dead onto the pavement.

Everyone turned to see who shot at Tate and saw Gail standing in a combat stance, smoke coming from her .38 automatic.

Despite her years practicing law in the entertainment industry, Gail still had not lost any bit of her police training, especially her eye for something amiss. As she and the others came out with their lunch, she had seen a man in a car reading a newspaper. When her party got to the first empty table, Gail sat so that she could watch the car as she ate. She glanced toward the car now and then. She couldn't see the driver's face, but she did see him peak at them over the top of the newspaper, he was supposedly reading, a few times as they ate their lunch. Her time doing stakeouts in New York told her that he was waiting for someone. She saw immediately that when she and her friends got up, he got out of his car. She reached into her handbag and put her hand on her weapon. As Tate came closer, she saw him take his hand out of this pocket holding a gun.

Gail's police shooting training took over. As Tate was shouting she pulled her gun out and in a split second she aimed for the center mass of Tate's body and squeezed off two shots.

As she put her gun down she said to everyone, "Well I couldn't let him shoot us now could I?"

Her friends sighed in relief and amusement as Marine Guards came over and took over the situation.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Timing Interlude**_

_**Epilogue**_

Monday, December 1, 1997

1500 Local Time

JAG Headquarters

Washington Navy Yard

John was working at his desk. He was in the midst of transitioning to become the Assistant Director at the Navy's Criminal Investigation Service NCIS. He and Sarah were engaged to be married as he had asked her the week before Thanksgiving. He was feeling very happy and content with his life.

His phone rang. He recognized a Los Angeles area code. "Commander Marshall."

Harriet was walking by John's open office door. She stopped as she heard him say, **"Oh my God No.!"**

As Harriet looked in silently from the bullpen she saw John listen for a time then hang up his phone. He dropped his head in his hands and started to cry.

Harriet rushed right into Sarah's office and said, "Major, I think Commander Marshall needs you. I think he just got some very bad news."

Sarah got up and almost ran onto her fiancé's office. She saw him turned away from his desk with his head in his hands. She closed the door and the blinds and went to him.

She knelt down in front of him and asked, "Baby what's wrong?"

John looked up at her with a tear streaked face and said, "It's Gail, she's dead."

Sarah cried, "Oh no, what happened?"

John said, "Jack said that when she didn't come home last night as usual, he called the local sheriff. Being as influential as he is, they set out looking for her. They found her this morning dead in her car, down a ravine, next to a road not far from her home. A sheriff's deputy saw a broken guardrail and stopped to investigate and he saw Gail's car down the ravine.

When they pulled her car up and got her out she had been dead at least 5 hours. She had been trapped between the steering wheel and the back of her seat. Apparently the car hit a tree head on with everything crumpled inward."

Sarah asked, "What happened?"

"Jack said that the accident investigators who examined the scene found skid marks on the road leading to the break in the guard rail. There were other skid marks as if a car crossed the median and then swerved back. They surmised that Gail was driving home last night and the other car crossed the line into her path. As she turned to get out of its way and being that it was dark, she didn't see the guard rail until it was too late."

John paused before he added, " There was something else."

"What?" Sarah asked, not wanting to hear more bad news.

John swallowed hard as this part was the hardest, "The autopsy showed that her aorta had burst from the impact. She had died instantly. The autopsy also showed that she was about a month pregnant."

"Oh my God!" was the only thing Sarah could get out as she too was overwhelmed with the same grief John was experiencing.

John went on, "Jack didn't know yet. He said that Gail had called earlier saying that she was coming home early from the office to tell him something. He thinks that was it."

For John's sake she pulled it together enough to ask, "Oh John, I'm so sorry. What do you need to do? Are there any funeral arrangements?" Sarah asked.

"Jack said that he was going to call the rest of his family and get back to me on the arrangements. He said that he couldn't get in touch with Peter because he was on deployment on board the Truman in the Med'. He needs me to call him. Sarah how am I going to tell him that his sister.." John choked back a sob and tried again to finish his sentence. "that his sister and her baby are dead."

As he sat back in his chair John had the look of someone who didn't know what to do next.

"C'mere," Sarah whispered standing and then pulling him into her arms.

John wrapped his arms around her waist and clung to her, allowing his tears to fall. "She had so much to live for…" he whispered, "so much…"

Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, 1998

1930 Local Time

Sun Point Beach Club

Atlantic Beach, NY

On the weekend of Gail's funeral Admiral Chegwidden graciously gave Sarah, John and even Traci Manetti permission to take leave to attend. So they flew out to Los Angeles. There they all saw many of Gail and John's family. The family was very glad to see them. Peter especially.

He had been very devastated when John finally notified him of Gail's death. It had been a very trying weekend for all involved.

Now John was seeing the same relatives.

John had not been home in over 3 months since he was shot and the subsequent recovery. Tonight he and Sarah had walked into the bar at John's parents' beach club and had been overwhelmed by the cry of **"SURPRISE!"** from his relatives. They had gone there to celebrate his recovery.

After he had made his way through and greeted each relative he got to the bar. He was greeted with the shouts of _"Speech, speech!"_

He decided to indulge them. So he got a glass of ginger ale each for him and Sarah from the bar tender. As he held up the glass he said, "I want to thank each and every one of you for coming. I am so happy to see you all. I would like to give a toast to those from our family who are not here today, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. I would especially like to mention one cousin who is not here, Gail Tierney Grayson.

A lot of you know that Gail and I went to and graduated Fordham Law together. She pulled me out of the doldrums I was in at the time. I could not have survived law school without her help.

What some of you don't know is that Gail and I worked a JAG Man investigation together a year ago. It came about from helping her brother Peter out of a legal jam. In the course of the investigation we had to interview a biker gang. Well Gail had a way of getting information from one reluctant biker. He didn't like it very much that she whipped his butt playing pool. So much so that he went to do her physical harm. Well he forgot that she still had her cue stick in her hands. As he got close enough to her, she broke it in two over his head." (There some gasps of surprise combined with laughter at this.) "Then she compounded his misery by punching him in the nose." (More laughs were heard.) "Needless to say he went down. It also took the fight out of him and he told us what we needed to know. She was something else.

The reason I needed to relate that story was because I wanted to say that I miss her. I miss her intelligence, her moxie, her confidence, her beauty and even her goofy laugh. She was my cousin and my best friend.

So here's to Gail Tierney Grayson, one tough cookie and an even more beautiful woman."

There wasn't a dry eye in the house as all those present raised their glasses in salute to their lost cousin.

_**The End**_

4


End file.
